Skip to main content

Trash Panda Cleans Up Nice: Baking Soda Shampoo and Vinegar Hair Rinse

I feel like posting about this is almost cheating, because it's so simple. But I hadn't heard of it til I read about it in "The Bust DIY Guide to Life" and "Make Your Place: Affordable Sustainable Nesting Skills", so Trash Panda's going to spread the good news.

Bust DIY & Make Your Place's Super Simple Shampoo and Rinse

  1. Scrub your scalp and roots with a little baking soda
  2. Rinse right away with hot water
  3. Rinse with a little vinegar - I recommend either using a little spray bottle to spray a bit on, or use it diluted at least 1:1 with water and pour it on with a cup or something
  4. Rinse with hot water again
That's it.
______________________

Review

Hair cleaning power: Felt only sort of clean in shower, but hair & scalp felt nice and clean when dry
Recommended for: Straighter hair types and more oily scalps
Ease of making: Beyond easy - just take it out of the box/bottle really
Cost: about $0.05/ounce for both baking soda & vinegar

This sounded questionable at best for hair health, so I tried it out. I just grabbed a few pinches of baking powder, which turned into a watery baking powder paste in my hand in the shower, then rubbed it on my scalp and roots. After rinsing real good in hot water so I didn't turn into an accidental baking soda volcano, I rinsed my hair some squirts of apple cider vinegar I put into an old hand soap pump. Then I rinsed again until I didn't smell like a pickle. It worked just like Bust and Make Your Place said it would - baking soda scrub got rid of the extra dirt, dead skin and oils, and the vinegar rinsed away the last of the baking soda residue. And while I didn't get that sodium laurel sulfate stripped-away-all-the-oils squeaky clean feeling in the shower, my hair looked and felt clean and shiny afterward. 

IMPORTANT NOTES: I know baking soda & vinegar rinse works well for short, straight, fine hair and a normal to oily scalp, cuz that's what I got. After doing some reading on natural hair care sites, it seems like this is less of a good idea the drier and curlier/kinkier your hair is.  If you have dry or very curly/kinky hair, my brief survey indicates you should try out the baking soda scrub/ vinegar rinse as an occasional sub in for a clarifying shampoo or maybe try it out once every other week to replace shampoo entirely.

Baking soda is fairly abrasive and drying, so I wouldn't use it everyday no matter what hair/scalp type you have. With my dandelion fluffy oily little head, I use it maybe every other day. I highly recommend rinsing with diluted vinegar or maybe lemon juice whenever you use baking soda as a shampoo to counteract the baking soda's basic pH.

My friend and colleague Pizza Rat mentioned she used to use the baking soda and vinegar regimen in college. She said it worked pretty well when she had short hair, but was kind of a pain when she grew her hair out, so she went back to shampoo and conditioner. Pizza Rat also noted that baking soda was only so-so cleaning her hair when it was really, really dirty (like with actual dirt).

Variations

To be fancy and add some herbs that are good for hair health or just smell nice, you can either infuse your vinegar with said herbs, or make a diluted vinegar/ herb tea mix like the one below.

Make Your Place's Herbal Vinegar Rinse and Conditioner

Ingredients:
  • 4 cups very hot water
  • 3/4 cups vinegar (apple cider vinegar is best)
  • 2 tbsp each dried nettles, dried rosemary, and dried chamomile flowers (feel free to sub in other nice hair herbs or remove some of the above if you can't get ahold of them)
Steps: 
  • Put herbs in some cheesecloth or a big tea ball and combine with other ingredients in a jar or non-reactive pot or bowl (i.e. plastic, ceramic or enameled)
  • Cover and let steep overnight
  • In the morning, remove the herbs
  • To use, work up to a cup of the vinegar rinse in to your hair after you shampoo, and rinse well

=========
References: 
The Bust DIY Guide to Life: Making Your Way Through Every Day by Laurie Henzel & Debbie Stoller. Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2011.
Make Your Place: Affordable, Sustainable Nesting Skills by Raleigh Briggs. Microcosm Publishing, 2018.

Photo credit: Raccoon in water by Neale Bacon, October 25, 2008. Cropping and graphic design by Trash Panda DIY.
Labels:

Comments

  1. aaronnssdJuly 31, 2020 at 4:14 PM

    It is truly a well-researched content and excellent wording. I got so engaged in this material that I couldn’t wait to read. I am impressed with your work and skill. Thanks. Ayurvedic Hair Loss Treatment

    ReplyDelete
  2. Chemstar CorporationNovember 26, 2024 at 1:29 AM

    Great job for publishing such a nice article. Your article isn’t only useful but it is additionally really informative. Sanitation Solutions Thank you because you have been willing to share information with us.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dumpster Fire, Forest Fire, Easy DIY Air Purifier

It has been a YEAR.  Trash Panda hopes you've been staying sane and safe. Well, as much as you can be in the year of our Everlasting Dumpster Fire 2020 ( Update July 2021: And the year of our Great Anxiety 2021).   Speaking of fires - today's post is about how to make a cheap & effective DIY air purifier. Depending on the rating of the filter you use, it’s good for wildfire smoke, allergens, or even viruses. Parts needed:     + 20"x20" box fan    + Furnace air filter, preferably 20"x20" and with a rating of MERV 13 or higher (more on this later)    + Tape or bungee cord Tape or use a bungee cord to attach the filter on the back/air intake of the box fan and make sure to have the little arrow on the side of the filter facing towards the fan. That's it. Just use enough tape to keep the filter on there, and try not to cover too much of the filter area with tape. You can screw on little metal brackets on the side of the fan to create a more ...
4 comments
Read more

Trash Panda Likes It Hot: DIY American-Style Kotatsu

It’s been a fucking difficult year. And now it's the holidays and it's cold out and it's still not safe to spend time inside with loved ones who're outside of your pandemic pod. If you don't have a firepit or one of those expensive outdoor propane heaters how the fuck are you supposed to make this work? Enter the Trash Panda Kotatsu. Ok, so in Japan they've got these cool coffee table looking things with a heavy blanket skirt and a special heating unit attached up underneath. You sit on a cushion, put your legs underneath and snuggle up there to keep warm during the winter. These snuggly table friends are called kotatsu.  Actual kotatsu don't really work for American outdoor winter gathering purposes during COVID because: They're real short. Like just over a foot tall. They're meant for sitting around on the ground or on a cushion. Nobody wants to do that outside during the winter because the ground is cold and wet. Also most Americans are so used...
1 comment
Read more

Trash Panda Cleans Up Nice: Fuckin’ Easy Sugar Scrub

My sister won the best Christmas gift award last year and gave me a sugar facial scrub. And now I’m almost out. Time to make my own.  Ingredients 1 cup oil  2 cups sugar 15 drops essential oil (optional) Steps Mix ‘em up, maybe add a bit more sugar or oil depending on if you like how the consistency turns out. So fuckin’ easy.  How to use Use half a spoonful or less of the scrub to gently rub into your face til the sugar dissolves, then rinse. Use up to every other day on face and neck, every day on other parts of the body. Store in a tightly sealed jar to prevent moisture from getting in. I use a tiny spoon to get the scrub out so I don’t get water in it when I use it in the shower. It’s great for all seasons - nicely moisturizing in the winter, a gentle scrub to remove sun screen in the summer. Recommended Oils I recommend using a nice light non-cosmogenic oil since you’ll be using this on your face. Jojoba is nice if you’re feeling fancy or grapeseed will work well and...
Post a Comment
Read more